# What's the best scotch to go with a cigar?



## miken1967 (Aug 30, 2010)

Single Malt?? Blended? Interested in hearing more on this. Just started experimenting with single malts. Laphroaig 10 year and Macallan 12 so far.


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## aea6574 (Jun 5, 2009)

Howdy Mike:

I hope you are well.

I would say Bourbon, but I have been drinking a lot of Bourbon.

Along the lines of Scotch I like the Glen Rothes.

Best regards, tony


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Your question is most difficult to answer, as taste is so very subjective. I suggest that if you have a go to scotch, try that with your cigars. For some reason, many people who have a go to scotch or bourbon, seem to enjoy their cigars the most with them. 

Single malt, blend, makes no difference, either can be excellent. Don' become one of those, it must be a single malt to be any good people, because that is truly B.S.!

In my case, my go to scotch is Johnnie Walker Black and it also seems to go the best with my cigars. On the bourbon side, my go to is Maker's Mark and the same is true with my cigars. But then again, that's just me!


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## rob51461 (Aug 19, 2010)

Personally I enjoy a smooth Cognac like Meukow with "traditional" cigars and a Black Russian with my DEs


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## Rookee (Aug 5, 2009)

Most of the time i will drink rum (Ron Zacapa 23) with my smoke. If i'm in the mood for scotch i will drink either Balvine Doublewood (single malt) or Chivas Regal. I love Royal Salute 21 but its outta my price range.


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## rob51461 (Aug 19, 2010)

Dont mean to jack yr thread but I was wondering the opposite which is what cigar would go wif takillya


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## Snagged (Aug 20, 2010)

This thread reminds me of a quote from the movie "Paint Your Wagon": Horton says, "Believe me, until you've had a good cigar and shot of whiskey, you're missing the second and third best things in life!"

Seriously, though, your taste in scotch will mature and change just like it did with cigars. The two you've tried are both great, but way different. Laphroaig is from the Islay region and is very complex (strong flavors); Macallan is from Speyside and more subdued but more interesting (in my opinion). Trying whisky from different regions is a good first step toward acquiring a well rounded palate.

Something else that's sort of fun is trying different ages of the same distillery. For example, the 18-year Macallan is one of my FAVORITES, but it's pricey. It's neat to taste the difference that time makes. 

Some of my favorites right now are Balvenie, Glenmorangie (their Nectar d'Or is outstanding), and Glengoyne. Balvenie is a Speyside and Glenmorangie and Glengoyne are both Highland...the Glengoyne is reasonably priced, too, which is always good!

Just keep trying them...I think it's hard to go wrong with single malts.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Rookee said:


> Most of the time i will drink rum (Ron Zacapa 23) with my smoke. If i'm in the mood for scotch i will drink either Balvine Doublewood (single malt) or Chivas Regal. I love Royal Salute 21 but its outta my price range.


I can't help but speak up here. Chivas 12yo is a very nice blended scotch. Chivas Royal Salute is simply a super outstanding blended scotch, but as you say, it's pricey!

May I suggest a not very well known, and who knows why, Chivas 18yo Blended Scotch. If you've never tried it, it will blow your mind, considering it's cost at only $70 to $80 a bottle. You'll need to shop around to find it, at that price, but it's available and well worth the effort. It can easily be found at around $100 a bottle.


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## miken1967 (Aug 30, 2010)

Wow! So much great info here! I enjoy tasting the differences between regions where these single malts come from. I am going to visit my local package store this weekend to see if they have any of the labels you listed. I'll post more when I do. Thanks for the info!



Snagged said:


> This thread reminds me of a quote from the movie "Paint Your Wagon": Horton says, "Believe me, until you've had a good cigar and shot of whiskey, you're missing the second and third best things in life!"
> 
> Seriously, though, your taste in scotch will mature and change just like it did with cigars. The two you've tried are both great, but way different. Laphroaig is from the Islay region and is very complex (strong flavors); Macallan is from Speyside and more subdued but more interesting (in my opinion). Trying whisky from different regions is a good first step toward acquiring a well rounded palate.
> 
> ...


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

JohnnyFlake said:


> Your question is most difficult to answer, as taste is so very subjective. I suggest that if you have a go to scotch, try that with your cigars. For some reason, many people who have a go to scotch or bourbon, seem to enjoy their cigars the most with them.
> 
> Single malt, blend, makes no difference, either can be excellent. Don' become one of those, it must be a single malt to be any good people, because that is truly B.S.!
> 
> In my case, my go to scotch is Johnnie Walker Black and it also seems to go the best with my cigars. On the bourbon side, my go to is Maker's Mark and the same is true with my cigars. But then again, that's just me!


Great post I agree 100% Johnie black for me when i drank scotch. No matter what cigar it was. Now bourbon is a another story for me. Knob creek Makers mark Pappy Van Winkle are all excellent with cigars.Yes taste is very subjective. :bump2:


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## Gibson (Aug 26, 2010)

miken1967 said:


> Single Malt?? Blended? Interested in hearing more on this. Just started experimenting with single malts. Laphroaig 10 year and Macallan 12 so far.


For me, Single Malt, presently Glenfiddich. I really like Laphroaig, but damn, that's some peaty taste there! I think of it as more of a fall winter scotch.

But as far as "best", what's the "best" cigar? (The one you like the best.:madgrin


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## Gibson (Aug 26, 2010)

I wanted to paste a couple of great links to read up on, but apparently I can't until I have more posts because I may be a spammer or robot of some sort.

So, maybe later.out:


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## Mr_mich (Sep 2, 2010)

hmm another tough question, just answered top 5 cigars and that took me 20 min to figure out. Also figured out what cigar i plan on smoking tomorrow....

Hmm, I can easily say that Macallen 12 is my staple scotch, i can have that any day and with any cigar. but lately i've been enjoying the hell out of a bottle of Balvenie double wood. 

Also the Laphroaig cask strength is pretty darn good. strong as hell but if you add just a bit of watter it really smoothens it out. 

Just like like your top 1 cigar, you can't have just one top 1 scotch.


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## PunchMan6 (Feb 14, 2010)

Try these...
Ardbeg
Oban
Lagavulin
Bowmor
Glenlivet...any one

basically any single malt will do you well, but if you want a great drink, try some of the top shelf ones...or try some good rum, bourbon or Irish Whiskey..enjoy


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## kansashat (Mar 13, 2004)

For a blend I'd go with the Johnny Black. 

Single malts are great fun & lots of different profiles. Balvenie is veeerrry nice. The Islay malts are very peaty with influences of the salty sea. Highland malts are, in general, much different than Lowland malts. There is much to explore here.

Good luck, & much fun! Please drink responsibly.


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## pkloop (Sep 2, 2010)

Being a bourbon guy I'll +1 to the Makers Mark suggestion...however..also being a Scotch guy I'd say the best one to go with a cigar is one served on the rocks  Glenmorangie 18 year is a good..pricey..fit 

In the affordability realm I'm also partial to Grants but that seems to be just me as every Scotch drinker I serve it to seems to bitch about it and say its bitey..Me, I love the stuff.

Of course you can't go wrong with Dewars/Johnnie Walker..


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## Frodo (Oct 1, 2009)

My experiance is that scotch with significant sherry character (aging in sherry casks) tends to go better with cigars. Everyone and their brother has an expression that has had a secondary maturation in sherry casks so they are not hard to find. For me, I would recommend Abelour or Macallan although Balvenie Doublewood catches my eye. There are lots of Bowmores that have sherry character like the 18yr distillery bottling that would go well with sticks.



JohnnyFlake said:


> Single malt, blend, makes no difference, either can be excellent. Don' become one of those, it must be a single malt to be any good people, because that is truly B.S.!


I can't overstate my agreement with this quote. Many folks assume that single malt = better whisky. I think blended vs. malt whisky is apples and oranges - one tend to be lighter than the other but that is not better or worse. Just different.


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## denarok (Aug 10, 2009)

My favorite scotch is Talisker 18 year old.

To be honest I prefer single malts over blended, I mean there are some good blendeds, but for me single malt is the way to go, usually has a much more smooth and fuller flavor taste. I always drink mine neat, and do not add ice.


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## Bunker (Jul 20, 2010)

These days I seem to drink more Jack Daniels and Crown Royal than scotch (mostly due to the cost).

But JW Black is always good and if you can find it Old Putney was one of my favorite single malts


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## denarok (Aug 10, 2009)

Bunker said:


> These days I seem to drink more Jack Daniels and Crown Royal than scotch (mostly due to the cost).
> 
> But JW Black is always good and if you can find it Old Putney was one of my favorite single malts


if I am low on funds which these days I am, I usually just pick up a bottle of Old Crow, for the price it is really good bourbon


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## Gibson (Aug 26, 2010)

pkloop said:


> In the affordability realm I'm also partial to Grants but that seems to be just me as every Scotch drinker I serve it to seems to bitch about it and say its bitey..Me, I love the stuff.


In my opinion, Grants is the best bang for your buck out there. The same distillers as Glenfiddich and a few others. For me, it fills the sub-$30 range of scotches and is even about $5-$10 cheaper than the other sub-$30s.


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## Gibson (Aug 26, 2010)

> Originally Posted by *JohnnyFlake*
> _Single malt, blend, makes no difference, either can be excellent. Don' become one of those, it must be a single malt to be any good people, because that is truly B.S.!_





Frodo said:


> I can't overstate my agreement with this quote. Many folks assume that single malt = better whisky. I think blended vs. malt whisky is apples and oranges - one tend to be lighter than the other but that is not better or worse. Just different.


I want to agree with it (and am by no means a drink snob), but I CAN'T

A dram of most (but not all) single malts just tastes significantly better to me than blends. And not just taste, but body, complexity, etc.


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

This is a really tough question to answer. Scotch whisky, like cigars, come with so many different flavor profiles across the range it would be hard to pick one that would go with all cigars.

I agree that the sherry finished bottlings seem to work best but sometimes the sweetness will over power some sticks. I put Macallan in the over sherried category...it isn't one of my favorites. The peat monsters from Islay are great and my favorite whiskies but really not that great with a cigar. With the Islay peat monsters you lose more than you gain and miss the subtleties of both the cigar and the whiskies.

I find that there are few single malts seem to pair with a wide range of sticks. For me Highland Park, Clynelish, Glenroth, Balvinie (except the port finished) Dalmore and Bruichladdich (an Islay but not as heavily peated as the others) bottlings work well. Most of these have some peat but not that iodine and run off from a house fire amount of peat say like Ardbeg, Bowmore, Lagavulin, Coal Ila and Laphroaig.

Strangely Dalmore has bottling called the Cigar Malt that works pretty well with many medium body and flavored sticks like Padrons and RP Vintage 90-92s. It isn't a great whisky but it works.

Give me a Highland Park 18 and a Padron 1926 40th Ann. and I'm in heaven.


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## Bunker (Jul 20, 2010)

Gibson said:


> In my opinion, Grants is the best bang for your buck out there. The same distillers as Glenfiddich and a few others. For me, it fills the sub-$30 range of scotches and is even about $5-$10 cheaper than the other sub-$30s.


I spoiled myself years ago with too much good scotch that I can't get into even JW Red/Dewars and what ever else is at or below that price point.

For the same money you can get pretty good American Whiskey or Rye (although the price of JD seems to have jumped quite a bit in the last few years).


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## Frodo (Oct 1, 2009)

Noty sure which blends you've tried. I've been impressed by Chivas 18, JW Blue (but overpriced), Ballantine's 17, Cutty Sark 25. I have 4 bottles of Ballantine's 21 at home and it is very soft but complex and elegant - Moreso than any single malt I've had. JW Gold is in this catagory as well - a blend that just doesn't taste like any malt whisky that I've had.

Blends and malts are different no question. If you haven't had any blends that you've liked, you've found what works for you and what doesn't. My thought is that many folks compare Single malts in the $50-$80 range to beginner blends in the $15-$20 range and then declare that malt whisky is better. I think different whiskies at the same price point deserve to be compared.



Gibson said:


> I want to agree with it (and am by no means a drink snob), but I CAN'T
> 
> A dram of most (but not all) single malts just tastes significantly better to me than blends. And not just taste, but body, complexity, etc.





JohnnyFlake said:


> Single malt, blend, makes no difference, either can be excellent. Don' become one of those, it must be a single malt to be any good people, because that is truly B.S.!





Frodo said:


> I can't overstate my agreement with this quote. Many folks assume that single malt = better whisky. I think blended vs. malt whisky is apples and oranges - one tend to be lighter than the other but that is not better or worse. Just different.


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## Frodo (Oct 1, 2009)

Bunker said:


> These days I seem to drink more Jack Daniels and Crown Royal than scotch (mostly due to the cost).


I think Bunker makes n excellent point here. Even high-end bottlings of Cdn & US straight whiskies are significantly cheaper and IMHO give better value for your dollar in light of recent price hikes by scotch producers. I suspect this trend is going to continue as there was less distilling by the scotch folks during the 1980s and that is affecting how much 20yr+ scotch is on the market. Shortages = price hikes.

Chuck Cowdry (US whisky writer) opined that there is a comming US whiskey glut comming in the next 3-5yrs and that will have the opposite effect. The world hasn't "discovered" Cdn whisky like it has Scotch or Irish so these high-end bottlings are still good value.

Just some thoughts...


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## Amichuck (Jan 29, 2010)

I believe if you compare the higher end blends with the 18 year old single malts they will compare favorably. For blends, I like the Johnnie Walker Gold and the Glenrothes with a Padron 1926 or a Ashton VSG. In the 18 yr old single malts I like McCallans and Glenlivet with a BBF or a Opus X.


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## BKDW (Nov 7, 2009)

Slowpokebill said:


> Give me a Highland Park 18 and a Padron 1926 40th Ann. and I'm in heaven.


Damn right. That Highland Park 18, to date, was the best scotch I had (was and not is because I am done drinking). What an exceptional scotch....much better and WAY cheaper than Macallan 25.

Scotches are complex, and as others pointed out on the board, there are regional variations and flavors can vary. Hell, even scotches made from the same region are different. Even more funny, the Laphroaig and the Lagavulin distilleries are right next door to each other and their products are worlds away different.

I used to be a hardcore Islay scotch drinker: Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, you name it. If it had peat, I was drinkin' it. 
But for me, they did not work well with cigars.

My scotches of choice when smoking were Balvenie 12 doublewood (underrated as hell), Highland Park 12 or 18 (the 18 is HEAVENLY, and inexpensive for what it has to offer). You are probably not going to find a more well rounded scotch of substance (and inexpensive) than Highland Park. Scapa 14 was also decent (I heard they stopped making it-- I picked up a bottle for about 30 bucks only 4 years ago). 
Macallan 12 was good, but as my palate evolved, I found it weak. The 18 is a better choice. The Johnny Walkers (I have had ALL of them) were overrated IMO. The blue takes the cake for being overrated. Don't get me wrong, it is a good scotch, but it certainly is not worth the over 200 buck price tag. The gold is much better IMO, and way cheaper. The Green ain't too shabby. Many people SWEAR by the black, but the black never caught on with me. The gold did.

As for bourbons (and I have had the majority of bourbons on the market), my smoking ones of choice were Old Fitzgerald 1849 (nice, steady bourbon), W.L. Weller 12 year (underrated and definitely one of the best all around bourbons I had). I also liked Old Charter 101. 
You can't go wrong with Old Grand Dad. I loved the 114 proof-- very rich and would kick your a#$. The 100 proof wasn't too shabby either. Pappy is outstanding and cognac like, but i would not smoke a cigar with it-- too rich and complex and it would overshadow the cigar IMO. One boubon that I could never get my hands on was Old Bardstown 101 Proof. What an outstanding bourbon!! That's a bourbon that is totally off the radar but definitely among the top 5 bourbons I had. I would smoke with that.

I have other suggestions (many others actually, so just PM me). But for now, I would suggest you get your hands on a bottle of Highland Park (the 12 will do, and it's affordable) and for bourbon, anything with the name "Weller" on it.


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## BKDW (Nov 7, 2009)

Someone also suggested Glenrothes.

Not a bad scotch, but one I would not jump to. I remember having the 1992 vintage and the aroma was outstandingly complex. But when it came time to drink it, the complexity did not align with the aroma. I remember being very disappointed by that scotch....

Famous Grouse is actually a pretty good and cheap blended scotch.

I forgot about Glenlivet. When i first started drinking it, I did not like it much. I always thought Macallan was better. When I got some sense later on, I realized that Glenlivet was actually way more complex than Macallan. 
Glenlivet 12 is not bad, actually. The French Oak cask gives a real good bang for the buck. I would see about getting that one. The older Glenlivets are very good. You can smoke a cigar with Glenlivet.

Also, be on the lookout for Cragganmore 12. That is a HELL of a scotch and it is completely under the radar. Very complex and smooth. I mentioned Johnny walker gold-- I think they use Cragganmore in that blend. That's probably why it tasted so good to me. And it's cheap too.

Eagle Rare is a bad ass bourbon and real good for cigars also. The older and discontinued eagle rare 101 I found good with cigars as well, but this one is lighter and more "accepting" of cigars than its stronger brethren.


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## BKDW (Nov 7, 2009)

I am looking to unload my whisk(e)y collection FYI. Maybe we can trade for cigars?


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## shotokun16 (Jul 5, 2010)

*La Santa*

Personal Rating:9/10
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*Glendfiddich 15-year*
PR: 8.8/10
Bevmo:"91 PTS BEVERAGE TESTING INSTITUTE. Smoke, light tar/peat and golden raisin aromas. Soft, rounded texture; quite smooth, with a very refined, polished palate; has a nearly buttery sensation."










*Lagavulin16-year*

PR: N/A
Worth buying









Youtube video review: A very well-organized vlogger on whiskeys, malts, blends, single, rum, etc. 
YouTube - whisky review 93 - Lagavulin 16 yo

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## miken1967 (Aug 30, 2010)

You guys are awesome! All great info & advice! I'm going to have try all of your suggestions including the cigar pairings! I have my work cut out for me!


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## Snagged (Aug 20, 2010)

Wow...scotch p0rn...now I need a drink! Thanks for giving me a reason! And I have a RP Vintage 90 that really needs to burn, too...now if I can just find the right scotch to go with it...


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## Snagged (Aug 20, 2010)

FYI...I went with a RP Vintage 1990 and Glenlivet French Oak Reserve = Nice!


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

BKDW said:


> I am looking to unload my whisk(e)y collection FYI. Maybe we can trade for cigars?


I could be interested in such a trade. What do you have that your looking to trade off? If you don't want to publish a public listing, please PM me.


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## GTCharged (Nov 3, 2008)

Wish I could chime in.


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

A blend that is pretty cheap and very under rated is Whitehorse. It pairs well with most of what I smoke.


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